Drexel Tops Towson 11-10 in OT for CAA Title Berth

Drexel had seen the story before — face-off dominance and an explosive offense, but sloppy play and turnovers leading to heartbreak.

But this time the Dragons wrote their own ending. Or at least the ending to this chapter.

Ryan Belka scored his fourth goal of the game, capping a wild 11-10 overtime win against Towson in the CAA Semifinals. Drexel moves to the next chapter: Saturday's CAA Championship Game at Hofstra, where the Dragons will play for a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Thursday's game was rescheduled from Wednesday night when heavy rains and flooding caused poor field conditions in Philadelphia.

Drexel face-off specialist Nick Saputo dominated possession, winning 19-of-22 draws. But turnovers in the first three quarters became an equalizer, and Towson capitalized with a 9-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Drexel had 14 turnovers on the day, 12 of them through three quarters.

“We had a little bit of a lull there in the middle of the game where we just couldn't get stuff done and we threw it away a little bit,” Drexel coach Brian Voelker said. “We won face-offs but we were sloppy with the ball.”

“We weathered the storm and I felt pretty good going into halftime only down a goal because I thought we didn't play well at all,” Voelker said.

It looked as if the turnovers and mental mistakes would prove too much for Drexel into the fourth quarter.

Then Ben McIntosh decided he wasn't done.

McIntosh fueled the rally, scoring two goals to pull the Dragons to within one goal with less than four minutes left. Belka fed Cole Shafer for the game-tying goal, then McIntosh gave the Dragons their fourth straight goal and the lead with 2:14 remaining.

Towson's Devin Grimaldi tied the game at 10 with 1:20 remaining after a rare Towson face-off win, forcing overtime; the Tigers almost won the game with a shot off the crossbar near expiration.

“We just battled back and Ben made some great plays at the end, and Belks makes an incredible play in overtime,” Voelker said.

“It was the same thing that happened last year. We beat them in the regular season, and I didn't think we played sharp in the postseason and didn't make plays. To come back in the end this year, I think our guys knew that stuff happened and we handled everything great. We just kept battling and battling.”

McIntosh didn't score the winner, but he was a key part.

Belka described the play call out of a timeout (off of a Saputo face-off win) as a look to McIntosh. The Dragons knew Towson would try to lock off McIntosh. Belka started with the ball, while McIntosh would break in and out to try to get open. When Towson's defenders did a good job locking him off, McIntosh instead set a pick for Belka, who drove down the alley for the game-winner.

“He's so tough. He can do so many things, and he plays so hard. You put a pole on him and he scores, you put a shortstick on him and he scores,” Voelker said of the newly minted CAA Player of the Year. “Man, he did everything for us today.”

The game didn't appear as if it was going to be so dramatic, judging by the first minute of play.

Drexel came out, won face-offs and scored two quick goals 1:12 into the game. Towson coach Shawn Nadelen called a timeout to regroup his team, settling them down to the tune of a strong first half and a one-goal lead going into the break. Towson had wanted to play the game Wednesday night despite the elements, the coach said, and the delay complicated arrangements. The Tigers had to find a new hotel Wednesday night across town, and road closures and traffic further delayed Towsons's arrival Thursday at Vidas Field.

“I told them to take a deep breath and focus. It took us an hour and half to go eight miles to get here today after we wanted to play last night, then scrambling to find a hotel to stay overnight up this way,” Nadelen said. “Our guys handled a ton of adversity over the past 24 hours.”

Greg Cuccinello had a hat trick for the Tigers, and Ben McCarty had two goals. Five other players scored goals, and goalie Tyler White had 14 saves — many crucial ones late in the game.

“Even though they had that huge (face-off) advantage our guys just stayed poised and made plays to get us a lead, and when we gave that up we still had chances to win it in regulation.” he said.

Nadelen and the Tigers (8-7) have a strong young core of players returning for next year.

“The beauty is we have so many guys who've learned from (the seniors), so I think the lasting impact of this senior class will be a strong one,” he said.

And for Drexel, which faces Hofstra at 7 p.m. Saturday in the CAA Championship Game on Long Island, there's no special formula for the quick turnaround.

“I don't think there's too many secrets between the two teams,” he said about his squad that beat the Dragons 11-9 in late March. “Strap it on and see who plays better.”